Sealing means for rotary engines



1,644,564 Oct. 4, F. A.

SEALING MEANS FOR ROTARY ENGINES Filed. June 2. 1923 2 Sheets-Sheet 9&1.

Aim/war Oct. 4 92 1 7 I F. A. BULLINGTON SEALING MEANS FOR ROTARYENGINES 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 Filed June 2, 1925 i trollingg Patented Oct.4}, 1927.

UNITE FRANK A. BU'LLINGTON, OF KANSAS CITY, MISSOURI, ASSIGNOR TOBULLINGTON' MOTORS, OF KANSAS CITY, MISSOURI, A COMMON-LAW TRUSTCONSISTING SOLOMON STODDARD, ERNEST E. HOWARD, AND FRANK A. BULIiINGTON.

SEALING MEANS FOR ROTARY ENGINES.

Application filed June 2 1923. Serial No. 643,097.

to engines of the general type disclosed in mv application Serial No.567 ,288, filed June 10, 1922 and since the general piston concallyescribe any particular mechanism in this application. This descriptionw1ll be confined more particularly to the sealing means, the parts to besealed being referred to only in a generic way.

The novelty of the invention will be apparent by reference to thefollowing description in connection with the accompanying drawings, inwhich Fig. 1 is a longitudinal, sectlonal view through the enginemechanism, showing the invention applied.

Fig. 2 is a cross sectional view through the piston cylinder and throughone of the pis-' tons.

, Fig. 3 is adisassociated view of the iston sealing means and rotorsealing bridge lock Fig. 4 is an enlarged, perspective view of one ofthe rotors and one piston, one rotor sealing ring being shown inperspective w1th parts eing broken away and the pin for securing thepiston to the'rotor being shown in perspective, the complementarypiston-being shown detached.

Fig. 5 is a detail view of the lap joint for one of the rotor sealingrings, and Fig. 6 is a cross sectional view through a slightly modifiedform of rotor sealing means. w The stator is shown as consisting of twomembers 1 and 2 which may be fastened together by suitable means, forexample, bolts 3, to provide a circumferential cylinder or pistonchamber l. The members 1 and 2. are connected to their respective hubsor bearing portions 5 and 6 by webs 7 and 8 spaced apart to provide arotor chamber 9. The rotor chamber 9 is provided with inclined means mayvary, I will not specifi-.

walls 10 and 11 adjacent to the passage way 12 connecting the rotorchamber 9 with the cylinder 4. The inclined walls have an, im-

portant bearing on the question of sealing, as will be apparenthereinafter.

The rotors 13 and 14 are, of course, independently movable. The rotor 13is preferably integral with its shaft 15 mounted in the hub 5 and in therecess 16 in the crank carrier 17 on the end of the power delivery shaft18, mounted in a bearing 19 in the'casing 20. The rotor 14 has a hollowshaft 22 mounted on the shaft 15, .as clearly seen in Fig. 1. j

The pistons are, of course, carried by the rotors, and they are operatedthrough suitable mecham'sm. For example, comple mentary to the crankcarrier 17 is a co-operatmg crank carrier bearing member 23 mounted onthe hub 6. The members 17 and 23 carry single throw cranks 24 and 25which. are connected to the crank arms 26 and 27 on the shafts 15 and 22by links 28 and 29. The crank arms 26 and 27 have counter-balanceweights 30 and 31 at points distant from the connection to the links.

The shafts 24 and 25 carry fly wheels 32 and 33 at their outer ends andgears 34 and 35 at their inner ends. The gears 34 and 35 mesh with afixed gear 36 on the hub portion 6 so that they will planetate about theaxis of the fixed ear and'through the mechanism just described, powerwill be communicated to the power transmission shaft 18 The particularoperation and description of the. connecting link between the shafts 15and 22 and the shaft 18 will not be specifiwhy described here becausespecifically, it

forms no 'part of the present invention. Suffice it to say that thegeneral operation corresponds to that described in my application SerialNo. 567,288, filed June 10,1922,

although the mechanism shown in this case specifically is different andit has certain ad'- vantages over the construction shown in saidapplication. The particular linkage mechanism, however, will form thesubject matter of another application.

The two rotors 13 and 14 are substantially counterparts one of'the otherso I will only describe specifically one of them. Each rotor has twodiametrically opposite projections 37 and 38 with openings 39 and 40,

' secure thepistons, for example, 43 and 44,.

to the rotors. The rotors are annular and at,the base of the projections37 j and 38 they are rovided with flat shoulders as at and 46 Fig. 4).The hollow pistons are rovided with slots as at 47 in piston 44,, ig.

4, into which the projections 37 and '38 extend. The slots are rovidedwith Walls 48 through which the pins 41 and 42 extend to secure theistons to the projections 37 and 38. The pistons are provided withprojections 49 and 50, which rest upon the shoulders 45 and 46'toprovide a firmsetting or hearing for the pistons. The slot portions 47,of course, are offset with respect to the axial center of the pistons,the offset portions 51 of the pistons overlaps the comple mentaryrotor;.for example, the portion 51 inFig. 4 will overlap the eriphery ofthe complementary rotor 14 an similar pistons on rotoi'14 will overlapupon the periphery of rotor 13.

' J The overlapping portions 51 of the piston areprovided with recesses52 and 53 to receive the bridge. blocks 54 for the packing rings 55,there being preferably, two packing rings, for each piston. The pack ngrin 55 are split rings with spaced ends 56 an 57, each ring bein oneside, as at 58 (see ig, 3) that is, the ring on one side of thepin 59 1Sthicker and, therefore, of greater weight than the portion of the ringon the other side of the pin 59. Centrifu I force will cause the portionhaving t e end 56 to creep or move a inst its projection 37 or 38 whilethe end 5 'will have a tendency to pull away from its brid 'ng block 54,but the end 57 is provided with an offset 60 overlapping the shoulderedportion 61 on the bridge block 1 .54,"and the bridge block is providedwith 67 which is a a shouldered portion 62, which bears against theprojection 37, for example, irrespective of any movement of the end 57.Movement of the rin 55, when the piston is removed, will be limited,however, by the pin 59, which is in the recess or pocket 59' in thepiston.

The ring may have an inherent expansive tendency, but the tendency toexpand will be augmented by expansion springs 63 and 64 in recesses 65and 66 in the piston, so the ring end portions will always be maintaineincontact a ainst the cylinder, the springs being also e ective inovercoming the 'centrifu al force, which would tend to move the ringends radially outward close to the piston and away from the cylinder.wall.

The bridge block carries a retainer spring flat spring having a lip 68overla ping but out of contact with the end 57 an a dependin lip portion69 which overlaps the shoul cred portion 62.. The spring 7 is secured tothe block 54 by a over-weighted on made sufiicient to exceed centri ugalforce effective on the block 54 when rotated about the axis of theengine.

It will be observed, of course, that the bridge block will co-operatewith the piston rin in forming an efiicient seal between the cylinderand piston and between the complementary rotor and piston so thatleakage will be prevented.

I have provided an ein'cient means for sealing the cylinders 4 and therotor chamber- 9. Thismeans consists of one or more rings 71 Each ringhas a flat face 72 bear- 1ng against the side face of its rotor and aninclined face 73 bearing against the in-.

clined wall 10 or 11 of the rotor chamber. The ringhas an acute angle 75which fits into the acute angular space of the rotor chamber formed bythe wall 10 or the wall 11 and the side of the rotor, aswill be clearlyseen by reference to ,Figs. 1, 2, and 4. The

rings have an inherent expansive tendency and their ends overlap, as at75 and 76, .so

that leakage at the split portions will be prevented. The inherenttendency of the rings to expand will exert pressure against thewalls 10and 11 by the walls 73 which will re-act enough to cause the rings toalso bear against the 'rotors so that the rotors will be forced togetherand since the piston rings prevent leakage between the rotorsand therings 72v revent leakage between the cylinder and t e rotor casing, itis apparent that a very simple, effective sealing means is provided.

In Fi 6 I have shown a slightly modified form 0 sealing means in whichthe rotors 77 and 78, corresponding in a generic sense to the rotors 13and 14, have grooved offset rings 79 and 80, in which are packing rings81 and 82 on one side and 83 and 84 d on the other. The rings 81 82, 83,and 84 all have inclined faces whichbear against inclined faces 85 and86 on the rotor chamber casing, and they alternate with rings 87v and 88in the offset portions 79 and80.

It will be seen that inthe form shown in Fig. 6, substantially the sameactions and re-actions take place because the rings 81, 82, 83, and84all have inclined faces corresponding to the rotors 77 and 78 insubstantially the same inclined face 7 3- of the ring 72, and they alsoexert force against the having an extension carryin der. ThlS is ofvital importance to a rotary engine because, obviously, it is immaterialhow Well balanced the piston rotors and pistons are, or the linkagemechanism; 1f the sealing means fails, the engine becomes ineflicientand, of course, a sealing means tobe'practical must be one which willperform satisfactorily over long periods. Therefore, I have simplifiedthe construction of the sealing means to guard against leakage at anypolnt and at the same time .make a sealing means which will be ruggedenough to withstand the ordinary operating conditions to which it willbe subjected.

What I claim and desire to secure by Letters-Patent is:

1. A piston ring for rotary engines comprising, in combination with anannular cylinder, a piston in the cylinder and a rotor having anextension carrying the piston, a

, sealing ring carried by the piston and having spaced ends located atopposite sides of the rotor extension, theportion of the ring I at oneside of the piston being'of greater mass than at the opposite sidewhereby centrifugal force enerated during operation of the engine e ectsmovement of the ring in a direction to efiect contact of the end of thering at the side of lesser weight with the extension. I I

2. A piston ring for rotory engmes comprising, in combination withanannular cyllnder, a piston in the cylinder and a rotor the piston, asealing ring carriedby the p ston and having spacedendslocated atopposite sides of the rotor extension, the portlon of the ring at oneside of the piston being of eater mass than at the opposite side where ycentrifugal force generated during operation of the engine effects.movement of the ring in a direction to efiect contact of the end of thering. at the side of lesser weight with the extension, a sealing memberat that end.

of the ring having greater mass, the end of the block and the end of thering having stepped, overlapping relationship to maintam sealing contactand compensate wear.

3. A piston ring for rising, in combination with an annular cylinder andcomplementary rotors, a piston in the cylinder, an extenslon on one ofthe rotors carrying the piston, a ring on the piston having spaced ends,a rotor sealm means at one end of the ring of lesser lengt than thespace between the ends of the ring,

for

rotary engines com the remainder of said space being occupied by therotor extension.

4. A piston ring for rotary engines comprising, in combination with anannular cylinder and complementary rotors, a piston in the cylinder, anextension on one of the rotors carrying the piston, a ring on the pistonhaving spaced ends, a rotor sealing means at one end of the ring oflesser length than the space between the ends of the ring,

the remainder of said space being occupied by the rotor extension, therotor sealing means and the adjacent end of the ring having stepped,overlapped relation.

5. A piston ring for rotary engines coniprising', in combination with anannular cylinder and complementary rotors, a piston in the cylinder, anextension on one of the rotors carrying the piston, a ring on the pistonhaving spaced ends, a rotor sealing means at one end of thering oflesser length than the space between the ends of the ring,

the remainder of said' space being occupied by the rotor extension, andresilient means interposed between said rotor sealing means and thepiston to offset the effect of centrifugal force tending to unseat thesealing means.

6. A piston ring for rotary engines comprising, in combination with anannular cylinder and complementary rotors, *a piston in the cylinder, anextension on one of the rotors carrying the piston, a ring on the pistonhaving spaced ends, 'a rotor sealing means at one end of the ring oflesser length than the space between the ends of the ring,

the remainder of said space being occupied by the rotor extension, the.rotor sealing means and the adjacent end of the ring havmg stepped,overlapped relation, and resilient means interposed between said rotorsealing means and the piston to offset the effect of centrifugal forcetending to unseat the sealing means. I

7. A piston ring for rotary engines comprislng, in combination with anannular cylnder, a pistonin said cylinder, a rotor having an extensioncarryin the piston, a split ring for the fpiston havlng its ends atoppositesides o the extension, and springs on sa1d p1ston atoppositesides of the rotor extenslon yieldingly urging the ends of the ring toresist centrifugal force.

{3. A piston ring for rotary engines comprlsmg, in combination with anannular cylnder, a piston in said cylinder, a rotor havingan extensioncarrying the-piston, asplit ring -f or the piston havmg its ends atopposite sides of the extension, rotor sealing means between the ends ofthe s rin s, and springs on said piston at op os1te sides of the rotorextenslon yielding y urging the ends of the ring to resist centrifugalforce.

In testimonyzwhereof I afiix m signatures.

F ANK A. BULL NGTON.

